I think I’m finally going to post these pictures taken last year at Sumapaz National Park in Colombia. I’ve been oddly reluctant for a couple of reasons. First, I felt almost proprietary toward these little lagoons, as if they were my own private experience. They were breathtakingly gorgeous, but only at the very particular time I was there. A few days earlier or later and the water would have been different, the weather would have been different, and it would have looked nothing like this. I feel like I’m one of the few human beings ever to see it exactly like this.

The other reason is that these photos simply don’t capture what it looked like in real life. Your mileage may vary, but I find that this doesn’t happen very often. In this case, however, the picture is a poor substitute for being there and drinking in the tiny, perfect little garden that the rain has made out of this miniature lagoon. If you’re wondering why I’m making such a big deal out of something that’s pretty, but just that, all I can say is that you had to be there.

These pictures are both of the same lagoon. They were taken from opposite ends.

August 8, 2019 — Sumapaz National Park, Colombia

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